Scent - I like it has a strong Rosemary-Mint scent to me. I like it. My wife cannot stand it. She says it smells like industrial soap.

Lather- does lather very easy as it is a coconut soap. Pure coconut soap can lather in salt water so that is a given. Enriched with stearic acid to add density and stability to the lather. Downside for me is I found it a little drying, as I do all cocunut based soaps.

Shave - shave was fine. Glide and cushion were good but after shave feeling was a little dry and I had to go a little heavier on the moisturizer.

I have to use it some more but my first impression was OK. Would I pay $65..... No. I am not a huge fan of coconut bases for shaving soap. Would rather buy 4 DRH pucks or other palm based soap for the same price. Do like the scent very much though.

I can see why it has fans because of the ease of of making lather. Beyond that point I don't see it's performance justifying the price.

Well, I detect a lavender smell to mine. It does lather like crazy, very little goes a long ways. I do have the opposite results from you though. It has never dried on my face and it leaves my old dry skin feeling quite moist. I love the stuff and it is my number one go to soap.

Coconut oil can be quite detoxifying. This detox can mimic the feeling of drying out your skin. I've noticed this too, but with regular use the dry feeling went away & now they only leave my skin feeling soft & supple. YMMV with these things as always since we all have different body chemistries. I'd still suggest using it for a week or two to see if you notice a difference.

(10-20-2012, 10:53 AM)SharpSpine Wrote: Coconut oil can be quite detoxifying. This detox can mimic the feeling of drying out your skin. I've noticed this too, but with regular use the dry feeling went away & now they only leave my skin feeling soft & supple. YMMV with these things as always since we all have different body chemistries. I'd still suggest using it for a week or two to see if you notice a difference.

+1

I had this issue when I decided to switch away from tallow based shower soaps (wanted a cleaner feeling soap on the skin and also got sick of cleaning up scum in the shower) and changed to South of France soaps, which are coconut based. The first 2 weeks or so my face would feel like it was tightening up and super dry after every shower, although strangely none of the rest of my body felt like that, after 2 weeks that feeling went away completely and now I love using them.

Initially I only detected the rosemary. Then I began to detect the lavendar below the rosemary. According to their website there's another scent there as well, but if I smell it I can't separate it out. I understand why some folks wouldn't like it, but I like it quite a lot.

(10-20-2012, 10:53 AM)SharpSpine Wrote: Coconut oil can be quite detoxifying. This detox can mimic the feeling of drying out your skin. I've noticed this too, but with regular use the dry feeling went away & now they only leave my skin feeling soft & supple. YMMV with these things as always since we all have different body chemistries. I'd still suggest using it for a week or two to see if you notice a difference.

I will keep trying it as you suggest. He bought the 170g jar which is a lot of soap. I really like the scent. The wife really hates it with a passion though. Shows how subjective scent is. This is the first shaving product I recieved such a reaction from her about.

Got a sample coming from Garry's. I am eager to see what all the talk is about. I love lavender, and I like rosemary a lot too. For some reason I am expecting it to have a consistency similar to Cella. I guess I'll find out.

I absolutely HATE the smell of MdC "scented". Boght a Fougére instead, and altough i was not in love with the smell, i learned to like it.

Performance-wise, tough, i feel that MdC is THE soap, wich all others soaps should be measured.

Having said that, i feel that artisan soaps keep getting better and better. Even here in Brazil, a artisan that is a friend of mine made a batch of soaps using the MdC as base and they turned out terrific, absolutely top notch. Plus, he makes several scents at a time.

But there's something about MdC that no one can match; its lathearability.

I finally got some samples a little while ago of this in both scents and a few other high end soaps and while they completely changed my mind on whether they are "worth it" or not the MdC didn't end up as my favorite. I am now a devoted and obsessed fan of C&E Oxford and Cambridge. It hits a home run in every aspect for me. But I do love me some MdC now too.

The crazy thing for me about this soap is that it's not the slickest by any means but it offers protection that is second to none. I consistently get a super smooth shave with zero irritation, no nicks or cuts. The post shave isn't the best I've felt, but there's also no irritation

(10-20-2012, 10:44 AM)Johnny Wrote: Well, I detect a lavender smell to mine. It does lather like crazy, very little goes a long ways. I do have the opposite results from you though. It has never dried on my face and it leaves my old dry skin feeling quite moist. I love the stuff and it is my number one go to soap.

Just another one of those YMMV things I guess.

I agree, since I started using MdC it has never dried on my face and leaves my face moist and smooth. MdC has made it to the top of my list!

(10-20-2012, 10:44 AM)Johnny Wrote: Well, I detect a lavender smell to mine. It does lather like crazy, very little goes a long ways. I do have the opposite results from you though. It has never dried on my face and it leaves my old dry skin feeling quite moist. I love the stuff and it is my number one go to soap.

Just another one of those YMMV things I guess.

I agree, since I started using MdC it has never dried on my face and leaves my face moist and smooth. MdC has made it to the top of my list!

A lot of things have changed since I made that post in 2012. MdC is still one of my favorites but the Czech & Speake Soaps have become my number one.

In my opinion I have the fougere. Its just awesome. It lathers so easy and its very protective on the shave itself. I will pay another one for the future yes. I looking to buy in the near future a lavender one.

(10-20-2012, 10:44 AM)Johnny Wrote: Well, I detect a lavender smell to mine. It does lather like crazy, very little goes a long ways. I do have the opposite results from you though. It has never dried on my face and it leaves my old dry skin feeling quite moist. I love the stuff and it is my number one go to soap.

Just another one of those YMMV things I guess.

I agree, since I started using MdC it has never dried on my face and leaves my face moist and smooth. MdC has made it to the top of my list!

A lot of things have changed since I made that post in 2012. MdC is still one of my favorites but the Czech & Speake Soaps have become my number one.

Johnny, have you tried the new Valobra soaps in the pots ?
Supposedly Valobra makes the C&S soaps, and I find them as great as my two C&S soaps, and very similar performance wise.

i think I understand the appeal of this soap. I have never tried it, but it seems to be a really great performing soap, with a good scent, that lasts a long, long time.
But for $75 I can buy a ton of great smelling, great performing soaps, and have all of that plus a wide variety of scents with them.
I love variety, and cannot see myself using one type of soap and scent for the period of time it would take to consume that much soap. Add to that the fact that the price of this soap is probably my yearly budget for soap, anyway.
But that does not take anything away from what seems to be a great soap.